Money's list of America's best small cities


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22. Irvine, CA
Irvine
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 22
Population: 208,000
Compare Irvine to Top 10 Best Places
Welcome to one of the most educated towns in America. This diverse Orange County community, which ranked No. 4 on MONEY's Best Places to Live list in 2008, was founded in the 1960s when the University of California's Irvine campus was built.

The university is still the town's largest employer, but others, including Broadcom, have moved in. Given California's massive budget problems, which threaten university funding, that's a good thing.

Irvine is working on a 225-acre reconstruction of the Orange County Great Park that, when completed, will include sports fields, museums, and other entertainment areas. --B.D.

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Is Irvine a great town, or what?
Irvine stats
  City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $113,768 $90,957
Job growth %
(2000-2009)*		 26.72% 15.71%
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Median home price $550,000 $239,391
See Irvine homes for sale
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 64.7% 22.9%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 44.7% 22.9%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 15 24
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 6,510 2,967
High temp in July ° F 80.9° 86.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F 45.8° 21.3°
Median age 35.0 35.3
Financial City stats Best places avg.
Median family income
(per year)		 $113,768 $90,957
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $92,083 $86,860
State sales tax 8.25% 5.45%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 9.55%I 7.35%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 1.25%I 2.96%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,703 $1,707
Job growth %
(2000-2009)*		 26.72% 15.71%
See jobs near Irvine
Housing
Median home price $550,000 $239,391
Average property taxes
(2008)		 $5,747 $3,418
See Irvine homes for sale
Education
Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 35 25
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 64.7% 22.9%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 44.7% 22.9%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 95.8/4.2 87.8/12.2
Quality of life
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 70.0% 77.8%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 15 24
Median commute time (in minutes) 18.5 21.4
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 11.6% 13.6%
% population walk or bike to work 6.4% 3.6%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 58 31
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 6,510 2,967
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 256 207
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 228 162
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 72 72
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 6 10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 7 12
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 0.1 1.5
Weather
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 12.87 37.40
% clear days in the area 44 29
High temp in July ° F 80.9° 86.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F 45.8° 21.3°
Median age 35.0 35.3
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 84.3% 71.5%
Married % 52.2% 56.6%
Divorced % 8.7% 8.4%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 280.4 94.9
From the August 2010 issue
Notes: *County data

(I) Income tax notes:
16 states have statutory provision for automatic adjustment of tax brackets, personal exemption or standard deductions to the rate of inflation. Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio index the personal exemption amounts only.
An additional 1% tax is imposed on taxable income over $1 million. Tax rates are scheduled to fall by 0.25% after 2011.
For joint returns, the taxes are twice the tax imposed on half the income.
Tax credits.
Galleries & video
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  • Homes for sale
  • See all Irvine homes for sale
  • Real estate and homes for sale on Trulia
Find Your Best Places
Region
Northeast South
Midwest West
Ranking
Top 100 winners only
Population
8.4M
46,000
Home Prices
2009 median sales prices
$1.2M
$36K
Video
How we picked the Best Places
Using statistics from data provider Onboard Informatics, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small cities for families. (Last year, we looked at small towns, with populations between 8,500 and 50,000.) More

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